Page 59 of The Scientist
“You’re going to be late.” Nicky aimed her comment straight at Lex. “The whole team needs to be on time today if we’re ever planning on finishing this experiment. Or don’t you care about our work anymore?”
She glanced at me with that last comment.
“Calm down. We still have another thirty minutes before we start the simulations,” Lex replied, seeming irritated.
Normally, it was hard for me to tell what he was thinking. But lately, the subtle changes in his voice or shifts in his expression was something I was starting to pick up on.
“It’s my fault,” I said, hoping to run interference. “I asked Lex if I could join him on his run this morning, but I slowed things way down with my general out-of-shapeness.”
I was thinking that might smooth things over, but it only seemed to irritate her more that I spoke at all.
“Dr. Strovinski has an extremely important job that has to be completed on a strict timeline. He doesn’t have time for distractions.” She gave me a look of such contempt that I pictured steam coming out of both ears.
“What about me?” Stuart asked. “Does Dr. Benowitz have time for coffee or am I not an important part of the team too?”
“You could shrivel up and die, and we’d all barely notice,” she said scathingly.
Stuart’s head turned to Lex and me. “You ever meet someone and think the world would have been a better place if their mom had just swallowed?”
“Sounds like you all really need to get to work, and so do I,” I said quickly. “See you later, guys.”
I waved and walked off hurriedly, but I heard the bickering start back up again. Normally, I’d be annoyed when someone acted like such a petty asshole, but all I felt was pity for Nicky. Especially now that I knew the story behind their relationship. I’d probably be a little insane too if I had to work with someone I once loved, and they dumped me because I asked for more from them. And not to mention the fact that she can’t get away from him without giving up a career that she worked hard for. Lesson to take away from all of this is to never, under any circumstances, date your coworkers, people.
Chapter 14
“So, what do you think of the campus?” I asked my mom as we took a break in one of the gardens.The weather was perfect to finally show her around Stanford’s campus. She was feeling up to it after her chemo appointment, so we walked around the grounds while I acted like a professional tour guide, giving her all the highlights.
“It’s absolutely beautiful here. I can see why you love it,” she said as we sat down on one of the benches near the live oak trees.
“How are you feeling?” I asked for about the hundredthtime that afternoon. “If you’re too tired, we can head back.”
“No, I just need to sit for a few minutes. You can give me a lecture on this bench and its historical significance though, if you like.”
“In 1891, Leland Stanford himself sat on this very bench…”
She laughed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back to let the sun hit her face. I watched as she unwrapped the scarf from her newly shaved head. She was handling the chemo treatments better and better. However, after the fourthor fifthround, she started to lose her hair, so I helped her shave it off one afternoon. We shopped around and got a few wigs, but she mostly wore head scarves, saying the wigs were too itchy.
She didn’t seem bothered by the hair loss, so I didn’t dwell on it. As long as she was here with me, nothing else really mattered.
The smell of fresh flowers and the cool breeze on my skin gave me a feeling of such serenity. I was basking in it until I looked over to see my mom watching me.
“Can I tell you something you might not want to hear?” she asked.
“What is it?” I asked cautiously.
“This place suits you.”
“This bench?” I pointed to it, smirking.
“California,” she said seriously. “This job, this place, your friends. You’re different here.”
My brows pinched together. “What do you mean?”
“You were always so restless in New York. Jumping from one project to the next. You never felt settled,” she said. “But here… you just seem content.”
Where was this coming from?
There was no denying that I enjoyed a lot about my new life in California, but it wasn’t home.